NIA custody till 5 February for 12 held on suspicion of planning attacks ahead of Republic Day

New Delhi: Twelve suspects, arrested from across the country for their alleged links with terror group Islamic State, were today remanded in NIA custody till 5 February by a special court here. The accused, who had their faces muffled, were produced amidst tight security before District Judge Amar Nath during an in-camera proceeding.

According to the court sources, National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought their custodial interrogation saying that they were required to be quizzed to unearth the conspiracy of ISIS to spread its reach in India.

The sources said that the probe agency informed the court that the accused were arrested for allegedly planning to carry out attacks ahead of the Republic Day.

These arrested accused were allegedly regularly in touch with active members of IS in Syria through internet chatting via Skype and other social networking apps, they said.

Many of these accused were allegedly assigned the work of recruiting operatives for the terror group, the sources said, adding that the accused were arrested from various places, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Aurangabad.

Two suspected terrorists — Abu Anas and Nafees Khan, both aged 24 years — were yesterday remanded in the custody of the central terror probe agency by the court for 13 days on the allegations that they had Islamic State links.

NIA and other central agencies had arrested 14 people on Friday and Saturday for allegedly planning to carry out attacks ahead of the Republic Day. They were arrested under several sections, those under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.